chankonabe

I've heard that white truffle oil is always artificially flavored? Better to go with a good black truffle oil, that may or may not be. It's difficult to tell the difference really, between the black and the white, especially when not tasting them all by themselves. It's hard for me to justify the extra cost of the white truffle oil over the black just because real white truffles are more expensive than real black truffles.

hmm, I can't remember if it was this year or possibly late in the last, but it was beef with hijiki seaweed puree at wd-50. It was like licking the inside of a dirty fish tank, a filthy dirty fish tank. I couldn't imaging being a cook there and having to check the seasoning on that one every time it went out. Maybe it wasn't worst of all time but when you're in a cuisine driven restaurant and all the ingredients are put together with such precision and care, presented so nicely, one doesn't expect such a sucker punch. I had invited a friend, we both had the same dish, and we both fell silent after the first bite. Our eyes fell to do some inspecting and suss out the situation, when we had the second que'd up eye contact was made and we both kind of dared each other to go for it. We were playing chicken with the beef.

You cant really get better than the Grec Frites from the street vendors when really in a pinch. I mean they put the fries right IN the sandwich. Its genious, and gets even genious-er with some hot ass mustard. Just look for the meat that looks like a bunch of flank steaks piled up instead of the inverted pyramid of homogenized lamb meat. Otherwise its Jambon Beurre three times a day, paris is pretty pricey. There was this bisto I used to go when I was there in the 1st called "Bistro des Halles", it's a really good find for such a touristy area. I mean you know its good when you see French peeps eating there, right? Kind of fealt like some place tucked away but was right in the open. Bon chance!

A trip to reno is never complete with out some soup noodle from pho 777( on 4th Street I think, right downtown) and the awful awful (a hamburger called so because its awful big and awful good) in the nugget casion on north virginia street. I used to go to Louis Basque corner and remember loving it (although it was a long time ago). They have a different menu everyday, all the seating is family style and they just serve you what they are making that day. Have a good trip and remember, you have to bet big to win big.

word. How about adding something like "...and free cookies for the owners of the first 100 dishes licensed"?

I still wonder...why? What for? Who is being protected from what? what damage is being done? Can't this be a purely moralistic issue as opposed to a legal one? This discussion, although very interesting and thought provoking, seems to have become something that exists inside itself. It seems like a fun project, to figure out how to make it work, as long as it never does. No one worth their salt in the industry would want this.

Yeah, but really what is the point? Why do this? To be able to say "I invented this its mine" I mean really. Who's being protected and from what? From someone copying someone else? Cry me a river. FG you said this wasn't about money but is there any other reason to copywright something? It isn't for bragging rights. No chefs are losing any money over being emulated or even straight out ripped off. It's lousy and all that but isn't this all getting to be too much? I can see "underground" restaurants popping up all over where the food is "wickedly illegal" - shrimp noodles the new ortolan. I'll bet there is no support for this amongst professional chefs, especially among the names that have been thrown around on this thread. I think they would be seen as, I don't know...kind of traitors to copywright their techniques. Trends are trends, some people make them while others follow them

I wonder if any chefs "worthy" of copywrighting their work actually care to? Heston Blumenthal has started an online archive of his creations for the generations, Adria has published absolutely everything, WD can't be far behind on a book deal. These things aren't secret. No body is losing any money from this, customers aren't choosing to stay home in Australia instead of flying to Spain for dinner. Theres a quote from Daniel that I'm going to absolutely mangle, something about "food not being art but the end result can often times be quite artistic" Food just isn't able give the full range of emotions to be a true or pure art. Just because something is sublime and beatiful doesn't make it. Show me food that embodies despair, that strikes fear and terror into the hearts of diners. Create a dish that makes the someone lonely, or paranoid, or disgusted, not that people cant be disgusted at whatever, but cook a dish to convey that emotion. It isn't possible, if it's done it isn't food anymore, it's art.

I just read in Gastronomica that the J.M. Smucker Company has been trying (to no avail) to patent a certain kind of PB&J. a crustless and somehow especially sealed PB&J but nonethe less... a PB&J.

Not trying to impose anything. and I have no problem with and quite enjoy dining in these experimantal...establishments (ha!). All I'm saying is that these houses are in a class unto themselves and are difficult to categorize with other restaurants. I had to make that point because of the copy cat issue, I think its important. I don't mean to show any preferences at all, just the difference. "I love being objected to. It worries me, but I love being objected to." -Stan Brakhage

it comes from nori caramel, olive cloufoutis, hijiki seaweed puree, leather truffles smoked truffles tomato truffles tobacco truffles, white chocolate with caviar, edible menus, doughnut soup, bacon suspended from a hook, hot ice cream, anchovies foie terrine, 8 hour eggs, sea water sorbet sardine on toast sorbet... The comment may have been a little dramatic, but is part of a larger point.

Well, I think the problem here is that Alinea, WD-50, Fat Duck and the like aren't really restaurants and shouldn't be classified as such. I mean, they serve food but a restaurant is somewhere you go when you're hungry not looking for a challenge. El Bulli gets voted best restaurant in the world and it kind of tweaks me. The dishes served there are such direct representation of their varying visions and are pretty, I dont know, specific. They're trying to make history, not dinner (I stole that). Which is why the copying in this case is such an issue. It's pretty remarkable, I feel like it must have been harder to redo them so exactly. Every kitchen kind of develops its own personality and even simple dishes seem to work themselves out differently, let alone ones as complex as these. To actually go out and buy a bunch of those votive candle holder things and stuff meat into all the holes...that took work. All young cooks work for in the beginning is discipline, not flavor combinations, stacking textures and blah blah blah. How many free thinking cooks last long on the line? A first job with any kind of creative responsibility will invariably yield a lot of things that cook had done before. Its a completely different set of muscles that have to be exercized before any kind of culinary personality is brought out. Cooking is a trade, pure and simple. It would be no different if you were a cabinetmaker, the first year after you strike out on your own I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be doing a whole lot of innovating. I still make mashed potatoes like Charlie Palmer, do I have to change them? If those mashed potatoes are with Truffle Roasted Chicken and glazed root veg and I love that freaking dish and am I going to change it ever? not on your life, it's perfect. I didn't work for him for the money. Am I being a copycat or true to my craft? The problem here arises that that the chicken breast isnt meat glued into a perfect sphere, the mashed potatoes arent smoked, and the root vegetables aren't made out of gelatin. Both could be representations of two dishes prepared by two different chefs perfectly representing their personalities. But one can be copied, and the other is off limits. One comes from a restaurant and the other from a theater. Cooks work at restaurants and for chefs they admire because they want to take on certain aspects, they want to emulate to a degree the people they work for and with and I dont see anything wrong with that. I don't know much about Chef Robin and if he publicly took credit for the creation of these dishes than that's just plain wrong. (As a side note: my biggest kitchen peeve is people who say they are "self taught" because they didn't go to school) But I'd be willing to bet that after he did other peoples dishes for a while and molecular gastronomy is the direction he wants to go in then the dishes would begin to be his own. Perhaps he just became a chef too early and could have used another year or two as a sous chef when all you're supposed to do is copy?

Did you try CP Kelco? cpkelco.com I think. Be forwarned that I think you have to purchase a whole truckload. It might be best to try and get someone to give you some if you have any restaurant contacts?

I've probably gone to momofuku about 7 or 8 times and really think they do a great job and often stuff myself on pork buns and stella before the ramen even arrives. I do have to say that I've been very put off by how the chef treats his staff and have seen his poor behavior on at least three occasions, inapropriate for an open or closed kitchen. There is a big difference between teaching a new cook proper kitchen etiquette and tearing him/her up just because you get off on being mean. Last week I was there with my significantly always hungry other who was just dying for some Brussels Sprouts which we ordered and then watched the terrified young cook burn the bejeasus out of them. I'm talking charcoal people, ever see the microwave seen in 'Time Bandits'?. The sous chef guy was getting a stern talking to from the chef guy who had just walked in looking like he was going to kill someone, again, and wasn't there to supervise. I just knew the Brussles Sprouts were for us, we glanced at each other when they were set in front of us and then looked at the cook who refused to make eye contact but couldn't help glancing at the sprouts as we pushed them further and further towards his side of the counter. We thought about passing him a note or wispering to him or something 'dude, get rid of these before chef angry face comes back' knowing that he would be berated directly in front of us if we drew to much attention. We joked about it for a while as they sat there and cooled. Alas, through all of the sideways glances our black eyed Brussels Sprouts received (from sous chef too) no one said anything but our waitress "would you like to um..keep those or something?" we politely declined. I really like the place but think those guys are terrified back there, I've never seen the chef even acknowledge that there are even customers present. They have this great thing going that would only be greater if they could put some personality into the kitchen, have some fun once in a while. Not be terrified to fix their mistakes. Its a noodle bar, not Atelier.

So, a friend of mine just handed over a menu from Per Se and I just was wondering what was with all of the quotation marks. It made me remember my dinner at The French Laundry where I thought the same thing. Am I being ridiculous? Or is putting "emulsion" in quotes ridiculous. I absolutely respect and admire Thomas Keller's craftsmanship, and attention to detail. I'm just wondering which detail he was paying "attention" to. I mean "oysters and pearls" I can understand, because there aren't really any pearls, dig? Which went along with that whole "macaroni and cheese" thing he was doing, now things have gone too far they've dropped the "kitch" but kept the quote. Every French word on the whole menu is "quotized" and it’s starting to drive me batty, stand back far enough and it resembles arabic for crying out loud. And then I notice that even all of the French and Spanish and Italian words are in quotes, how is "compote" more deserving than the undignified Frisée, I mean it has an accent and everything, or would it just look to funny having them both in quotations along side each other. "Amandine" but not -sautéed-, is it not really amandine? Is "Cuit sous vide" not really cooked sous vide and just a play on the process. I think we all know what a "purée" is by now, no? If not then "coulis" has surely homogenized itself into the English language by now, how about "crouton"? How about "shichimi Togarashi" maybe not, but why the emphasis? Why not - Toasted "Brioche"- or -"Niçoise" olives-? What language is -Ossetra- in while I'm at it, Iranian? And to kick me while I'm down I end up on "Sweetened Salty Hazelnuts" help me out here Tom, what the freak are you up to? I didn't have OCD until I read this menu but now consider myself a victim, starving for a system to make it all make sense. 26 words in quotations on the Chef's tasting menu alone, with no discernable rhyme or reason. Would have liked to have seen: PRIX FIX "150.00" at the bottom just to spice things up a bit, some kind of sliding scale. Around 68 on the regular menu, sixty freakin’ eight words in quotes. It starts to feel like being "shouted" at after a while, did I over do it with the 19 in this post? Or maybe I'm just jealous because my friend went to Per Se and all I got was this stupid menu.